Daily Sun (June 25 2013) - MADIBA'S family is taking it one day at a time, said Makaziwe Mandela. "As his daughter, all I pray for is that the transition is smooth," she said. "I BELIEVE HE IS AT PEACE."

Makaziwe, the former president's eldest daughter, told CNN that in Tembu culture you never release a person unless he or she has told you to do so. "My dad hasn't said that," she said. "He hasn't said, ‘please my children, my family, release me'."

She said the people who talk about letting him go must know they haven't come to the end yet. "It is only God who knows the end," she said. She said the family was unsettled by some media reports about his condition. "Nelson Mandela's blood runs through our veins," she said.

She said whether these were the last moments for them to be with their father or whether they will see him for many more years, the people must stand back. "Give us space to be with our father," she said.

Yesterday President Jacob Zuma said Madiba remains in a critical condition. "I was told by the doctors that Madiba's health had changed in the past 24 hours and he was now critical. They were doing everything to make him comfortable," the president said in Joburg.

Zuma and deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa visited Madiba at the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Tshwane on Sunday night. Mandela was asleep during the visit. "It was late when we went to the hospital. We had a discussion with the doctors and Graca Machel and then we left." ....

See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

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